The present invention relates to a lift for vehicles.
Lifts for vehicle substantially comprising two parallel ramps on which the vehicles are positioned for being lifted, inspected and to perform maintenance have long been used in garages.
According to their structure, the auto lifts or hoists are divided into two main categories: in a first oldest one, the ramps are associated and moved vertically by sliding on four posts; in a second more recent one, each ramp has its own lifting frame of the so-called scissor-like type, and such frames are circuitally or mechanically interconnected so as to move in step, maintaining the parallel arrangement of the ramps.
The first type of lift is substantially sturdier and more stable when loaded but is less practical in use and has a greater overall space occupation.
The posts, which are fixed, limit operator access to the vehicle in the regions where the posts are present, and even when the lift is not loaded and is not in use they obstruct the passage of vehicles during movement within the garages in which the lifts are placed.
The second type of lift is less awkward to use and is far more compact than the preceding one, but this is achieved at the cost of generally lower stability when loaded.
The complete absence of supporting posts allows operators to access without problems all the regions of the vehicle placed on the ramps, and when the lifts are not loaded they can rest on the ground so that they are lowered practically retractably into the floor surface; in this way they do not constitute a hindrance for the movements of the vehicles inside garages, since they can be passed over easily and without danger of interference.
Another need which is felt particularly strongly by users of both kinds of the lifts described above is to have resting areas which are safe and stable in their positioning and on which the conventional instruments for reading and precision measurement of vehicle wheel angle parameters, such as toe-ins, camber angles and others, can be placed.
The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the above-noted drawbacks of the prior art by providing a lift for vehicles whose structure is sturdy and stable when loaded.
Within the scope of this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a lift for vehicles which allows full access to the vehicle, maintaining a small space occupation and a structure which does not hinder to an unsurmountable extent the possibility to move the vehicles inside the garages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide operators with a lift for vehicles which has adequate supports for the stable and safe resting of precision instruments normally used for measurements and corrections of the trim of vehicles.
This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a lift for vehicles, comprising two parallel ramps for loading the vehicles which can be actuated so as to move vertically, characterized in that said two ramps have concurrent ends being rigidly coupled to the cross-member of a portal-like frame, said cross-member being actuatable with a vertical translational motion parallel to itself by way of corresponding means along a pair of posts, corresponding grid-like frames, with rods hinged in a scissor-like fashion for the constant resting of the ramps on a floor surface, being provided below each ramp.